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posted by on Thursday May 04 2017, @10:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the QfvLcozLwtE dept.

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

Guns are not a part of the culture of my homeland, except perhaps for the occasional Bollywood movie in which the bad guy meets his demise staring down the wrong end of a barrel.

My childhood in India was steeped in ahimsa, the tenet of nonviolence toward all living things.

The Indians may have succeeded in ousting the British, but we won with Gandhian-style civil disobedience, not a revolutionary war.

I grew up not knowing a single gun owner, and even today India has one of the strictest gun laws on the planet. Few Indians buy and keep firearms at home, and gun violence is nowhere near the problem it is in the United States. An American is 12 times more likely than an Indian to be killed by a firearm, according to a recent study.

It's no wonder then that every time I visit India, my friends and family want to know more about America's "love affair" with guns.

I get the same questions when I visit my brother in Canada or on my business travels to other countries, where many people remain perplexed, maybe even downright mystified, by Americans' defense of gun rights.

I admit I do not fully understand it myself, despite having become an American citizen nearly a decade ago. So when I learn the National Rifle Association is holding its annual convention here in Atlanta, right next to the CNN Center, I decide to go and find out more.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/28/world/indian-immigrant-nra-convention/index.html


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @06:20PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @06:20PM (#504458)

    It's articles like this that make me think we should require background checks, mental-health tests, and mandatory waiting periods for people aspiring to be a journalist.

    Most journalists need a four-year degree from a college or university. How much longer waiting period do you think aspiring journalists should have?

  • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday May 04 2017, @06:29PM

    Giving journalists a degree and calling that qualification is like giving out concealed carry licenses at the gun shop with any purchase over $50. Universities have zero incentive to produce journalists who want to tell the truth, which is why they almost never turn one out.

    --
    My rights don't end where your fear begins.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @07:58PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @07:58PM (#504504)

    Irrelevant. A four-year degree can be had in 2.5 years, and was probably the easiest coursework I've taken since middle-school.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @10:09PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 04 2017, @10:09PM (#504558)

      Irrelevant. A four-year degree can be had in 2.5 years, and was probably the easiest coursework I've taken since middle-school.

      OK, so it took you 2.5 years to go through a four-year degree program. Congratulations! But my question was concerning a "mandatory waiting period" for journalists to pursue their profession. Even at 2.5 years, how much more time do you think you would need before you could responsibly pursue your craft? A waiting period is about...waiting...not about what you do while you are waiting, whether it be easy or hard. So, how much more of a time of discernment do you think you would need after completing your degree?